1. Technical Field
This invention relates to an adjustable guide for enabling accurate and repeatable cutting of one or more plate or biscuit slots within one or more work pieces using a plate joiner tool or the like.
2. Related Art
By way of background, work pieces, such as wood or any other material capable of being xe2x80x9cworkedxe2x80x9d or cut with conventional woodworking type tools and joined with an adhesive are often joined together using any of a number of techniques. One popular technique for assisting in securely joining two pieces of material together involves the use of a tool known as a xe2x80x9cplate joinerxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbiscuit joiner.xe2x80x9d
A typical plate joiner is a power tool having a rotating circular blade, the edge of which is typically spring loaded for allowing the edge of the rotating blade to be pushed a predetermined depth into a work piece, thereby cutting a semicircular slot within the work piece. This step is repeated until a desired number of slots are cut into the work piece. Matching semicircular slots are then cut into a corresponding work piece, again using the plate joiner. Next, an adhesive is typically placed into each of the slots cut into each of the work pieces, and often directly onto flat, oval-shaped plates or xe2x80x9cbiscuits.xe2x80x9d These biscuits typically have a thickness marginally less than the rotating blade of the plate joiner, and typically expand slightly after contacting the adhesive so that they will fit snugly within the slots.
The biscuits are then typically inserted into each of slots within one of the work pieces, such that approximately one-half of each biscuit extends from the slot in the first work piece thereby allowing each biscuit to also be inserted into the corresponding slot on the second work piece. Finally, the slots within the second work piece are aligned with the biscuits inserted into the first work piece so that the biscuits serve to join the two work pieces together by simultaneously partially residing within the corresponding slots cut within the joined work pieces. The work pieces are then often clamped or otherwise secured until the adhesive cures. Once the adhesive cures, a strong bond between the work pieces is achieved as a result of the biscuits joining the work pieces in combination with the adhesive.
Types of joints commonly created using the plate joiner include, for example, xe2x80x9cedge to edge joints,xe2x80x9d i.e., table tops or other flat surfaces, xe2x80x9cmiter joints,xe2x80x9d i.e., joints at the corners of picture frames, xe2x80x9cbutt joinery,xe2x80x9d i.e., two work pieces joined end to end, xe2x80x9ccorner joints,xe2x80x9d i.e., drawers, and xe2x80x9cT-joints,xe2x80x9d i.e., work pieces at 90 degrees forming a book shelf or the like. Clearly, other joint types are possible, including joints at any desired angle. Typically, when creating any joint using a plate joiner, corresponding slots are cut by first aligning the work pieces in the positions that they will have after being joined. Next, a line corresponding to a desired centerline for each biscuit that will be used to join the two work pieces is drawn or marked onto the surface of one work piece and extended onto the corresponding work piece. The work pieces are then separated. The lines are then matched to a centering mark on the plate joiner tool that is used to cut each of the corresponding slots in the manner described above.
One common problem associated with plate joiners is ensuring the accuracy of cutting corresponding slots within work pieces, such that the work pieces joined with biscuits will line up in the desired manner. While aligning the centering mark on the plate joiner with lines drawn on the work pieces typically provides reasonable accuracy, several problems exist with this technique. First, the method described works well when cutting slots into the edge of a work piece, as both the work piece and the plate joiner are typically resting on a flat surface while cutting the slots. However, when cutting slots into the surface of a work piece, such as with a T-joint, the alignment and the spatial rotation of the plate joiner is more critical. For example, when cutting a slot into the surface of a work piece, if the plate joiner is slightly rotated relative to the desired angle for the biscuit slot, it is likely that the slots in the work pieces of the T-joint will not properly align.
However, a more serious concern is repeatability of cuts when cutting identical slots in multiple members, such as when more than one set of work pieces are to be joined. This problem often arises when building more than one of the same item, such as, for example more than one cabinet, bookshelf, table, etc., where one or more work pieces having identical biscuit slots must be produced, along with one or more corresponding work pieces having matching slots. Clearly, taking the time to individually align work pieces to mark the centerline for each biscuit slot can become very time consuming as the number of work pieces increases.
Therefore, in order to overcome the limitations of current plate joiners, what is needed is a an apparatus for allowing accurate repeatability of slot cuts, along with proper alignment of slots in corresponding work pieces without the need to first align individual work pieces with corresponding work pieces for marking slot centerlines. Further, such an apparatus should ensure proper rotational alignment of the plate joiner when cutting biscuit slots into the surface of a work piece.
The present invention involves an adjustable multi-position biscuit cutting guide or xe2x80x9cjigxe2x80x9d which satisfies all of the foregoing needs. In general, the adjustable biscuit cutting guide of the present invention satisfies the foregoing needs by enabling accurate and repeatable cutting of one or more plate or biscuit slots within one or more work pieces using a plate joiner tool or the like. Further, this multi-position biscuit cutting guide allows for accurate and repeatable cutting of one or more plate or biscuit slots within corresponding work pieces without the need to first align the corresponding work pieces to mark desired centerline locations for matching or corresponding biscuit slots. Finally, the multi-position biscuit cutting guide of the present invention also ensures proper rotational orientation of the plate joiner tool when cutting biscuit slots into the surface of a work piece.
A multi-position biscuit cutting guide according to present invention is embodied in an elongated rail member, or body, having a plurality of slidably adjustable guide members disposed along its length. Further, a graduated distance indicator disposed along one surface of the body of the biscuit cutting guide provides a measurement indicator or xe2x80x9cscalexe2x80x9d for use in positioning one or more of the adjustable guide members along the length of the body. In addition, a slidably adjustable stop block or clamping member is disposed along either end of the body for the purpose of securely holding a work piece in position relative to the slidably adjustable guide members. These clamping members may also be positioned with respect to the scale.
In operation, a plate joiner tool or the like is used to cut one or more plate or biscuit slots within a work piece which is held in position relative to the slidably adjustable guide members. In particular, one or more of the guide blocks is first positioned along the length of the body with respect to desired positions as indicated by use of the scale disposed on the surface of the body. Each of these guide blocks further includes a centerline marking along a front face, and in one embodiment along a top face, to allow for centering of the plate joiner tool with respect to each guide member. Once the plate joiner tool has been centered against the guide member, the plate joiner tool is used to cut one or more plate or biscuit slots into a first work piece in positions corresponding to the centerlines of the guide members.
Once the plate or biscuit slots have been cut into the work piece, that work piece is removed from the multi-position biscuit cutting guide, and a corresponding work piece is then placed into the multi-position biscuit cutting guide. So long as the stop blocks and slidably adjustable guides are not repositioned when adding a new work piece to the multi-position biscuit cutting guide, any plate or biscuit slots cut into subsequent work pieces will be in exact alignment with slots cut into prior work pieces. In this manner, the multi-position biscuit cutting guide allows for cutting of plate or biscuit slots into corresponding work pieces, which may then be joined using adhesives and plates or biscuits in a conventional manner.
Further, because adjustment of the guide members and stop blocks or clamps need only be done once, any number of identical or corresponding work pieces may have plate or biscuit slots cut into their surfaces without the need to measure or mark the desired positions of those slots on each work piece. Further, once the multi-position biscuit cutting guide has been placed into the desired configuration, it does not require further adjustment to be used with any number of work pieces. Consequently, use of such a multi-position biscuit cutting guide serves to increase accuracy and alignment of cutting biscuit slots into corresponding work pieces while simultaneously reducing production time, and thus cost, when cutting biscuit slots into identical or corresponding work pieces.
The foregoing and still further features and advantages of the present invention as well as a more complete understanding thereof will be made apparent from a study of the following detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.